We can’t – and shouldn’t – avoid or ignore the ethical in the origin, the present and the destination of technology.. 1.

Certainly, for automation, there is more confidence and immediate view about the tangible benefits that it could bring.. ‘Automating out’ routine work can have a significant impact on cost where there is the scale to support the investment.Routine laboratory work takes scientists away from research thinking and potentially is a turn-off to those considering a career in laboratories.

However, this is not a simple path.It requires a change in the skill sets required in laboratories: scientists who develop skills in equipment engineering and coding or hardware and software engineers who develop skills in science.The current education system does not produce cross-fertilised disciplines (although skills like coding are becoming more endemic in the cohorts entering the workforce today).. Perhaps a more pressing problem is the fact that the new workforce of the 2020s is not keen to travel into an office or laboratory to work, preferring working remotely.. For research work and smaller more specialised laboratories, the automation story is different.

Without the scale, the investment in robotised systems against simple improvements in efficiency does not add up.The released value of scientists being freed up to spend more time analysing, discussing, collaborating and thinking is not well quantified.

Islands of automation may be seen as investable to allow new science.. Added to this there is not a joined-up ecosystem that looks at today’s smallscale testing as tomorrow’s large-scale roll-out, meaning that testing protocols are often developed in ways that inhibit or slow future automation.. Change, adaptation and flexibility.

A combination of emerging factors drive change in the activities and operations in a laboratory function..At University we are encouraged to create provoking, abstract, sensitive, conceptual and sometimes impossible design briefs and projects, testing the limits of the designer and the possibilities of architecture; skills that should never be forgotten.. BW: What and who does a crit typically involve?.

M: A crit involves the students individually presenting their design work project to a panel of critics.The panel is typically made up of their tutors, visiting tutors from either the same university or another one, external academics, recent graduates and other external people working in or somehow involved in design, architecture or the built environment.

The student pins up all their printed sheets on the wall and is then given a set amount of time to explain their work, the design process, the inspiration and their proposal, which is then followed by feedback by the panel and a critical discussion on how to push the project forward and improve it.. BW: What areas are assessed?.M: The students are primarily assessed on their ability to critically develop a design brief, analyse and propose a solution, which responds to the needs of the users and society.